Dusk and Dawn
by Kitsune Triforce
Summary: Bumblebee considers Sam his brother, so when he is forced to leave he doesn't take it well. Later, he and Sam are reunited as Decepticon activity increases. Together they try to find out just what is happening. Companion Fic to Moon Shadows.


**A/N**_**:**__ This isn't a sequel or even a follow-up, it's more of a companion piece that addresses some of the more cheerful scenes with Bumblebee in __**Dark of the Moon**__ that didn't fit in with what I wanted to pull off in __**Moon Shadows**__. As this is a companion fic, it can be read separate, and it isn't necessary to read this in order to fully get Moon Shadows, or vice versa. However, the last section of this fic takes place between chapters six and seven of Moon Shadows. It's more of an interstitial than anything else, though. _

_Now, once again, I have only seen __**DOTM**__ twice (yes, I saw it a second time since I finished __**Moon Shadows**__), so I apologize if I get any movie-based dialogue wrong. I'm using IMDB's __**Dark of the Moon quote**__ page as reference, but I know that it's not exactly 100% reliable, so I apologize in advance!_

_I also feel this needs to be addressed, regarding Bee and his assignments. He's the youngest Autobot. After Tyger Pax, Optimus is reluctant to put Bee in any dangerous missions. Going to Earth first was just a scouting mission. Being Sam's guardian, again, part of that scouting mission. And we saw he was able to handle Barricade-one Decepticon who was more or less his own size- just fine. Mission City was just supposed to be a retrieval point for the All-Spark and only became a battle due to Starscream and the other 'cons arriving there so soon. You notice in __**ROTF**__ how when he broke into the warehouse with Optimus he is only trying to get Mikaela and Leo away, not really fight, though he does. My point is, in between __**ROTF**__ and __**DOTM**__, Bee's grown up a bit. He's now getting more serious missions and battle upgrades. So of course he would be excited about finally getting to do what his older friends have been doing for so long._

_Anyway, some more fleshing out of __**Dark of the Moon**__! Hurray! _

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers, or any of the song/movie quotes used in this story. However, the idea for this story does, indeed, belong to me.**

**HERE'S YOUR TRADITIONAL, FRIENDLY NEIGHBOORHOOD REMINDER THIS IS NOT A SLASH FIC.**

**NOTE: DO NOT READ THIS FIC UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN DARK OF THE MOON/READ RISING STORM****! MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUND!**

**Dusk and Dawn**

**Rating: T (Just to be safe)**

**Words: **4,512

**Characters: **Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Sam, Carly, Wheelie, Brains, Mirage, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Sentinel, Simmons, Dutch, Bruce

**Pairings: **None

**Takes Place: **Prior, During, and After DOTM

**Spoiler Warnings: **Major Spoilers for Dark of the Moon and Rising Storm

**Other Warnings: **A bit of Angsting from Bumblebee, mentions of Character Death, slight altering of prequel comic events

**Teaser:**_ They hadn't seen each other for over a year, but a string of recent events bring Sam and Bumblebee back together again as they work to solve a puzzle about the moon._

* * *

><p>OPTIMUS PRIME IS WATCHING IN DISAPPROVAL. Bumblebee knows that it is not disapproval in himself, but rather, the reason why he is being forced to say goodbye to his closest friend. Optimus does not approve, but both the Prime and Bumblebee know that this is necessary. NEST needs the extra support more than ever, especially after what Shockwave did at Diego Garcia. Jolt, Knockout, Elita, Longarm, Salvage…they've lost so many. Bumblebee is needed here, now, at NEST.<p>

That doesn't mean that any of them have to like it.

Bumblebee holds out a hand to Sam, palm upward, and Sam slaps it slightly-a high-five.

"Promise you'll at least come and visit sometimes, Bee," Sam tells him, trying hard to hide just how much this goodbye is bothering him.

Bumblebee nods, standing up. "I hate to see you go…go away," He manages to say in his own voice. Remarkably, he does so without stuttering, but his voice capacitor protests this by shorting out after he is finished, and he breaks off into static. _***krcckzz***_

"It'll be okay, Bee," Sam insists, looking at his friend sadly as he starts to walk away with his new friend Carly, as well as the two former Decepticons Wheelie and Brains.

"C'mon, Sam," Carly tells him. "The new Director's right-it's time to grow up."

"It was good while it lasted," Wheelie laments.

Sam gives Bumblebee one last look. The Autobot waves at him halfheartedly, and then Sam is gone.

The young Autobot sadly vents a sigh, his shoulders and door wings drooping as he continues to watch the entryway that Sam left through. After a few moments, he feels a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Ironhide.

"Don't worry, Bumblebee," the Weapons Specialist assures his adopted son. "You and Sam'll be able to visit each other."

Bumblebee gives a halfhearted shrug. He has a feeling the new Director has other plans. She doesn't want Sam involved. Bumblebee saw that from day one.

He hates it.

"Come inside, kid," Ironhide urges him now. "Sideswipe's been looking for a new training partner. Why don't you give it a shot? It'll keep your mind off things; make the time go by faster."

Bumblebee allows his guardian to steer him inside the hangar that serves as the main hub of the new Autobot base, but he can't resist one last look in the direction Sam had gone.

_Visit? Sure, I'll visit, Sam,_ Bumblebee promises his absent friend silently, as he enters the hangar with Ironhide.

_But when? I don't know…_

* * *

><p><em>One Year Later…<em>

But Bumblebee didn't visit. Not really. He made it to Sam's graduation from college, but technically, he wasn't supposed to have even done that. He had snuck out of the base after convincing Sideswipe to cover for him. Upon his return, he had been confronted by a very angry Director Mearing, but Optimus had stood up for him. But, as he had broken the rules by leaving, Optimus had punished him-he'd had to assist Wheeljack for a couple of days. Optimus, however, had no intention of truly punishing Bumblebee for seeing his friend. The Prime knew that Bumblebee looked up to Wheeljack and got along very well with the inventor, so the punishment wasn't really anything of the kind.

That was, however, the last time Bumblebee had really visited Sam.

He misses his friend, and he really does want to visit him. Things aren't that simple, though.

Things have been really busy with NEST. Once again, Bumblebee follows Wheeljack, Mirage, and Sideswipe, this time down a dusty road leading to an illegal nuclear facility that the Autobots have learned is also distributing stolen Cybertronian technology amongst less that trustworthy humans.

Bumblebee is a little pleased that he is often going on these types of missions. Not too long ago, he wouldn't have been assigned this type of mission at all, and his living with Sam didn't have anything to do with the reason why.

He is the youngest surviving Autobot, after all.

As soon as Mirage is through the gate of the facility, he transforms, shifting into robot mode so fast that the guards don't even have time to cry out in surprise.

"On the ground, _por favor_, and stay there," the red Autobot warrior growls in his Italian accent. Over his comm, Mirage pings through a message to Bumblebee.

_Think you can take care of the buildings over there, Bumblebee?_

_I'm on it, Mirage,_ Bumblebee sends back as he drives forward. As he makes his way up the road, he locks onto his target. _Okay…first time. Let's see if this works for me._ In a quick transition, he alters his vehicle mode, deploying weapons he previously wouldn't have been able to access unless he was in Robot Mode. He rotates his main cannon, takes aim at the buildings he is responsible for, and fires.

The buildings explode as the shells from Bumblebee's cannon hit them, and debris goes flying everywhere.

_Looks like Stealth Force Mode works just fine for me,_ Bumblebee thinks. The new Stealth Force modes that nearly all of the Autobots have now were an idea that came about from it being necessary to sometimes carry out missions without reverting to Robot Mode. Bumblebee has recently gotten his and had not tested it out before this particular mission. It feels weird, being able to fight in his alt mode, but he knows it will be useful. _Wheeljack and Ratchet have really outdone themselves this time!_

He alters out of Stealth Force Mode, and turns around to meet up with the others as they prepare to leave.

"Mission accomplished, chaps. Let's head back," Wheeljack tells the others as he takes the lead, the other Autobots falling in behind him. "How did that Stealth Mode work out for you, Bumblebee?" He calls out to the younger Autobot.

_Just fine, Wheeljack, no problems at all,_ Bumblebee sends back via his comm.

"Thought so. Good to hear," the inventor replies in satisfaction.

_Felt weird to be fighting in alt, though,_ Bumblebee continues.

"You'll get used to it," Sideswipe tells his younger friend.

* * *

><p><em>The moon? The Ark? Sentinel Prime?<em> It all swirls around in Bumblebee's processor as he tries to make sense of it.

He's heard of Sentinel Prime before. The story of his failed attempt to steer _The Ark_-the original craft that first bore the name, not the one Optimus later took command of- to safety away from Cybertron is something that all of the Autobots know of, even those who did not see it. Bumblebee never knew Sentinel Prime and the incident with _The Ark_ had happened quite some time before he had even first come online, but he still knows the story.

No one knew what became of _The Ark_, its crew, its cargo, or its captain. Until now.

_To think they've all been on the moon this whole time!_ Bumblebee thinks in surprise. _The All-Spark, Megatron, The Matrix of Leadership, the Solar Harvester, and now Sentinel Prime and The Ark? Earth sure has a way of attracting what originates on Cybertron._

"Our Autobot craft is capable of arriving at the site and retrieving what lies there," Optimus is telling Director Mearing. "We will go at once. And you must hope that we are on time."

Shortly after, Optimus, accompanied by Ratchet, heads out to the Autobot's ship-_The Xantium_. Bumblebee stands outside the hangar with Ironhide and watches them leave. Bumblebee cranes his head upward to look at the moon, which is just visible in the sky.

_Do you think they'll really find Sentinel Prime up there, Ironhide?_ He asks his guardian.

"Of course they will," Ironhide responds with a grunt. "Optimus knows how to get into the crash vault. That's where Sentinel would be-with the cargo."

_Will the cargo help us win the war here?_ Bumblebee wonders.

Ironhide shrugs. "I don't know, kid. It might help. And we need all the help we can get."

* * *

><p>Bumblebee watches as Ratchet and Wheeljack finish uploading the English language packet into Sentinel's processor. Both the medic and the inventor agreed that it would be easier for everyone involved if Sentinel came back online able to understand and speak the language spoken in this area of the planet, and Optimus had given them permission to upload the file.<p>

"I don't believe this," Mirage says excitedly. "We've got Sentinel back!"

"Yes, but will the Matrix really revive him?" Sideswipe wonders.

_Of course it will!_ Bumblebee tells them firmly. _It revived Optimus, didn't it? It'll do the same for Sentinel, I'm sure of it!_ To himself, Bumblebee thinks, _The Matrix worked for Sam, and it will work for Optimus._

Then, as if reading Bumblebee's thoughts, a familiar voice screams from a nearby soldier's radio.

"_BEE! IS BEE IN THERE!"_

Bumblebee freezes. All eyes and optics in the hangar turn to him. Bumblebee's hesitation only lasts for a brief moment, however, and, without waiting for an order he quickly shifts into vehicle mode and zips out of the hangar.

_Sam!_ Bumblebee's thoughts are spinning again. _What is he doing here so late at night?_ He zooms up the side street that leads to the Autobot entrance and exit to the base, and he gets his first glimpse of Sam in over a year. One of the security guards is pinning Sam to the ground while Sam yells in protest.

Anger fills Bumblebee. _What are they doing? This is SAM! He has every right to be here!_ He transforms into Robot mode, swinging up to stand in the gateway next to Sam. He angrily points at one of the guards, then turns to glare at the one restraining Sam, gesturing furiously at him. _Leave him alone! Let him go NOW! _Bumblebee is too angry to even try to find radio clips to tell the guards this, but his actions need no reinforcing, and both guards hastily back off.

Sam stands up, and glares back at the guards. "_That's_ my car," he informs them both.

Bumblebee guesses that Sam's response is to a conversation that took place before he arrived outside. The young Autobot kneels down and looks at Sam. He is about to find a clip to let Sam know he's glad to see him, but Sam stalks away.

"Come here," He says to Bumblebee. The Autobot hesitates, confused at the tone of Sam's voice.

"Come here!" Sam says again, this time with more than a little anger in his voice.

"_Come on-Sam!"_ Bumblebee protests through his radio as he stands and follows his friend. _What are you so angry about?_

Sam is glaring up at him, and Bumblebee shrinks back a little as the human starts to speak again.

"What is with you, huh? I know your Black Ops stuff is important to you, and I'm not trying to diminish it or guilt trip you or anything, but I _never see you anymore_. You can't come back to the garage, you know, just to hang out? _For one night_?

Guilt fills Bumblebee. Guilt for not visiting, and guilt for actually enjoying going on the missions that were the reason he had to leave Sam and not visit him. Sam has every right to be angry with him. This has obviously been building ever since Bumblebee's last visit, and Bumblebee understands how Sam feels, but he can't help but protest slightly. _"Sam-that-makes me-feel bad!"_

"Yeah?" Sam retorts. "Well, I _hope _you feel bad. You _should_ feel bad. Look at this _jalopy_ I'm driving now-_I_ feel bad _every single day_." The human turns from Bumblebee and goes over to Carly, who must have come with him. He doesn't look back.

Bumblebee flinches and his entire frame droops. The friendship between himself and Sam was extremely strong, strong to the point that they considered themselves to be brothers. His friendship with Sam is one of the most important things in the world to Bumblebee, and seeing Sam so angry at him makes him feel as if he has been deeply cut.

He hates the feeling but knows that he deserves it.

Wheelie is there now, and the small Decepticon-turned-Autobot also glares up at him. "What? We not good enough for ya anymore?"

Bumblebee glances halfheartedly at Wheelie, but doesn't respond as he begins to head back to the hangar. Wheelie catches up to him quickly, Brains following behind.

"Hey, Bumblebee, I didn't mean anything by it, I know you've been busy," Wheelie says. "Give Sam time. He knows it too. He'll come around-he's just had a rough day."

Bumblebee shrugs. Sam was right-he should feel bad, and he does. But he still hopes Wheelie is right and Sam comes around quickly.

"Hey, wait 'til you see what he got hold of, though," Wheelie says smugly.

"Buncha info about the moon," Brains says.

_The moon?_ Bumblebee looks at them, and then shifts into vehicle mode. He pops open his door in invitation and the two former Decepticons get in.

_This certainly is a day for interesting developments,_ Bumblebee thinks wryly as he drives back into the hangar.

* * *

><p>Once everything quiets down after Optimus revives Sentinel, Bumblebee decides to find Sam and try to apologize to him for his lack of visits. However, he barely takes one step forward when he finds himself being approached by Optimus and, he notices with a nervous, slightly guilty start, Sam.<p>

"Bumblebee, due to recent events, you are being reassigned," Optimus informs him. He pauses, and then continues, smiling faintly. "I am sure that you do not mind being Sam's guardian again."

Bumblebee perks up slightly. _Of course I don't mind._ He shifts his attention to Sam. He still sees anger and resentment in the human's eyes as Sam looks up at him, but those emotions do not seem to be directed at him this time.

Sam holds Bumblebee's gaze for a moment. Then, his expression softens and he smiles slightly.

"Ready to go home, Bee?"

Relief fills Bumblebee and he nods. He's been ready for a year.

* * *

><p><em>This is weird,<em> Bumblebee thinks, as he sits in the living room in Sam and Carly's apartment. He's never been inside a human dwelling like this. He's used to garages, and parking lots, and the hangar back at base, but this is completely new. He didn't even know that apartments with rooms this large even existed.

He can hear Wheelie and Brains talking to each other in the garden outside, but he's not really paying attention to what the two of them are saying. Sam and Carly went to bed a few hours ago, and Bumblebee knows that he should get some recharge too. Thanks to his guardian protocols, he would come out of recharge quickly if anything or anyone threatening was to approach the apartment, so he knows that it would be perfectly safe for him to get some rest of his own. Despite all of the day's excitement, however, he doesn't feel like recharging at the moment, and he fiddles around with the plasma cannon on his right arm, as he makes sure it's in working condition without actually using it.

"Hey, Bee."

Bumblebee looks up when he hears Sam whispering his name. He shifts his cannon away and adjusts his position so he's more at eye-level with his friend. Sam looks up at him hesitantly, as if he is not sure whether or not Bumblebee is still upset about what he had said to him earlier at the NEST base. The hesitation is brief, though, and with a smile, Sam reaches up and gently takes hold of the circular speaker that serves Bumblebee's communication output. Although the speaker could be considered his mouth, what Sam was doing by tugging on the speaker was more like having your cheek tugged affectionately by a relative. Bumblebee doesn't mind.

"You just hanging out?" Sam asks, keeping his voice down so as not to wake up Carly, who is sound asleep upstairs.

"_Uh-uh,"_ Bumblebee replies in an electronic warble.

Sam smiles. "Yeah, me too." He gives Bumblebee's cheek an affectionate pat and then heads into the kitchen. He comes back a minute later, carrying a jug of milk. He leans against the wall next to the kitchen entrance and sighs. "She said I was just a messenger. Can you believe that?"

Bumblebee knows who this "she" is without even having to guess. _Director Mearing. Go figure._ He feels a wave of sympathy for his friend. He was prevented from visiting Sam because Mearing wanted all Autobots with NEST at all times. Sam was prevented from helping NEST out because Mearing thought he wasn't NEST material. _She doesn't know Sam like I do, like all of us Autobots do,_ Bumblebee thought bitterly. _If she did, she'd let him join up in a heartbeat. This isn't fair._

"Yeah, she sidelined all of us, kid," Wheelie mutters from the doorway that leads out to the garden. He'd come up to the door when he heard Sam complaining. "This ain't right."

Sam was silent for a moment. Finally, he looks at Bumblebee and speaks again. "Something big is going on here."

Bumblebee nods slowly. Sam is right. All this happening, all at once, all of a sudden? Something was off-way off.

"Listen, Bee," Sam steps closer to his friend. Bumblebee looks at him expectantly. "If they're killing humans, there must be a reason for it, and I want to know what it is."

Bumblebee nods again. _Right, and so you should. But how?_

Sam gives the young Autobot a grim smile.

"I say it's time we called in the expert."

* * *

><p>Simmons and his assistant, a man named Dutch, have managed to gather some information themselves, and, along with what Sam managed to retrieve, there a papers everywhere-on the table, and pinned to the wall. Brains has turned into his laptop alt mode to help with the research. Sam even hands Bumblebee some papers to look at.<p>

He looks over them carefully, and at the same time, he listens to Simmons, Dutch, and Sam talking.

"We've got to beak this case down. What we have here, is an astronaut epidemic," Simmons is explaining as he points to various pictures. "MIA, dead, died in a car accident, killed, DOA, car death... it's like these guys can't drive, they can fly into outer space but they can't drive a car."

_Sounds to me like they're being taken out_, Bumblebee thinks. He looks up when he hears a knock on the door and Sam goes to answer it. A man Bumblebee doesn't know hands Sam some envelopes through the door, which Sam is refusing to open all the way. _That must be Sam's boss, Bruce Brazos,_ Bumblebee realizes. Sam had mentioned something about his boss coming over with some more information they could use. Bruce and Sam seem to be arguing, but finally Sam shakes his head, opens the door, and lets Bruce in.

Bruce stands there, looking at him, his mouth open in amazement. Then, as he approaches Bumblebee, he finds his voice at last and says, "Freakin' _AWESOME_."

Bumblebee blinks at him and shifts away slightly as he returns his attention to the papers he is holding. He tries to ignore Bruce as the man walks around him, but this becomes increasingly more difficult as the man begins to throw fake punches at him.

"C'mon, c'mon," Bruce says excitedly. Bumblebee waggles a finger at him, as if he is scolding a naughty child, but the man continues to try and provoke him into a mock boxing match.

_Alright, fine, if that's how you want it,_ Bumblebee thinks, and begins to jab his fingers at Bruce, and he hopes that the human will give up quickly.

Bruce has no intention of doing so, and continues to punch at Bumblebee until the young Autobot gets an idea.

_Yeah, you think you're tough with boxing. How do you like THIS?_ Bumblebee activates his arm cannon and Bruce falls to the floor with the muzzle inches from his face. To Bumblebee's surprise, Bruce isn't the least bit scared. _Primus, he's laughing! What is with this guy?_

"Hey! Simmons snaps then. "You've delivered what we wanted. You need to get out of here."

"Yeah, fine," Bruce says as he gets up and head to the door.

Bumblebee shifts his cannon away and returns his focus to the papers he had been trying to look over when Bruce had distracted him. He looks up again, however, to the sound of the door being opened once more.

Carly stands there.

Bumblebee starts with surprise, and crashes into the light hanging from the room's ceiling. He tries in vain to keep it from falling, but all his efforts seem to just make things worse as the light completely detaches from the ceiling and crashes to the floor.

"Ooh, that was _smooth_, Bumblebee," Brains snickers from the desk below.

Bumblebee is flooded with embarrassment. _Great, just great!_ He already knew that Carly didn't really like him being in the living room all that much and he'd just given her another reason to think that way. He slides his battle mask in place to hide the look of extreme embarrassment on his face, but he knows everyone in the room already saw it.

The young Autobot wishes a hole would open up in the apartment floor and swallow him up.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee doesn't know whether to feel guilty or annoyed.<p>

After the little fiasco at the apartment, Carly had stormed off and Sam wasn't sure if she was coming back anytime soon. He'd assured Bumblebee that it had nothing to do with his breaking the light, but Bumblebee still felt responsible in a small way.

However, while the guilt is there, he's feeling more annoyed at the moment. He, along with Mirage and Sideswipe, is driving down one of the streets that leads to another part of the city. They are escorting Simmons, Dutch, and Sam to a club where they hope to get some info from a couple of retired Russian cosmonauts. That's not what's annoying Bumblebee, though-it's the fact that Sam is in Simmons's car and not with him.

_As if Simmons's car could defend from a Decepticon attack,_ Bumblebee thinks with annoyance. _It's not an Autobot._

With luck, though, it won't be necessary to fight any Decepticons on this trip, but the Autobots have all learned that it was better to be safe than sorry.

They stop in a seedy looking area of town that no one in their right mind, or without good reason, would willingly go to. The humans get out of the car, but before they head off to get into the club, Sam comes over.

"Hopefully this won't take too long, Bee," Sam tells him.

"_But what if something bad happens?"_ Bumblebee voices his concern with an unknown yet familiar radio clip.

Sam grimaces. "We'll take it as it comes, I guess, Bee. I'll be back soon."

* * *

><p>Waiting was boring, so the Autobots conversed with each other about what brought them here in the first place.<p>

"What exactly do the 'cons have to gain by taking out astronauts?" Sideswipe wonders.

Mirage shifts up and down on his axels a bit, the equivalent of a shrug for an Autobot in vehicle mode. "Who knows why Decepticons do what they do?"

_But there has to be an important reason or they wouldn't be doing it_, Bumblebee muses. _Do you think there might be something else on the moon that they don't want us to find?_

Before Mirage or Sideswipe can answer, the door to the club burst open and Sam runs out, closely followed by Simmons and Dutch.

"Bee!" Sam cries as he stops next to the young Autobot. Bumblebee is instantly on alert. "Bee, listen, it's a trap! The Decepticons _wanted _Optimus to find Sentinel, they need him, they're gonna come after him!"

"_What?-Are you serious-what do we do-what's the plan?"_ Bumblebee strings together.

"We gotta find Sentinel, NOW!"

Bumblebee swings his driver's side door open instantly. There's no way Sam is going with Simmons this time.

Sam climbs in right away. "Can you pinpoint his signal, Bee?"

"_Do you really have to ask?"_ Bumblebee retorts, then he lets out a triumphant chirp. _"Got it!"_

"Okay, let's go!"

Bumblebee takes the lead this time as the small group of Autobots and one human car pull back onto the street.

"We're close to solving this thing, Bee," Sam tells his friend. "We know what they were after now, and all that's left is to find out why."

_Yes,_ Bumblebee thinks. _And maybe, once we find Sentinel, we'll get the rest of our answer._

* * *

><p><em>Several days later…<em>

Bumblebee jolts out of recharge with a jerk. He settles down with a quiet whine as his surroundings register-he's in the temporary Autobot base at the ruined Navy Pier in Chicago. It's almost morning, and he can see the sun as it starts to rise.

That's right. Chicago. The battle. Sentinel.

_We did get the rest of our answer when we found Sentinel, after all,_ Bumblebee thinks, remembering his thoughts from several days ago.

It just wasn't the answer they'd expected. Both recent events and the nightmare that had just brought him out of recharge were proof enough of that.

He is about to make an attempt to go back into recharge when a familiar figure standing close to the edge of the pier catches attention. He transforms and makes his way over to stand beside the figure.

"Hey, Bee. You wake up early, too?" Sam asks.

"_Nightmares,"_ Bumblebee responds.

"Yeah, nightmares," Sam sighs and looks off over the water. "You're not alone there, Bee."

They are both quiet for a moment, and then Sam turns to face Bumblebee.

"Bee...all that stuff I said to you the other day, at the base…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," He takes a shuddering breath, as if he is fighting back tears. "Bee, you're my best friend. My brother. These past few days have given me a lot to think about…I thought I lost you twice back there. And…I know now that I…" he straightens and looks Bumblebee in the optics. "I never want you to feel bad, Bee. Ever."

Bumblebee blinks. He'd forgiven Sam for that night days ago, but he'd had no idea that Sam himself was still bothered by it. He offers Sam his hand, and the human climbs onto it. Bumblebee lifts Sam up so that his friend can sit on his shoulder.

Bumblebee faces away from the city. He knows here's a lot of work to do to fix what's been broken, but they can do it together. The sun today is rising on a world that will never again be bothered by Megatron or Sentinel.

After a few minutes, Bumblebee stutters a single word in his broken voice. "S-sam?"

Sam looks at him. "Yeah, Bee?"

Bumblebee turns his head to meet his friend's eyes. "I-I'm g-glad that y-you're with m-me, Sam."

Sam smiles. "Ditto, Bee. Ditto."

Whatever happens next, they'll face it together.

That's what brothers are for.

**~The End**


End file.
